Fallen
by Tori-Bird627
Summary: She understood...she understood the pain that we endure and cause...she understood that life is short and due to our lifestyle, can be cut even shorter... she understood that your childhood can be ripped away from you...understood that we may be heros to some people but villans to others...and understood the burden that when you gain your innocence...you lose it as well.


Freezing rain beats down on me as I fought to keep my grip on the slippery rocks I was climbing up on. "Yumi!" I shouted over the howling wind to my silver Gollum as it flew nervously above me, "Yumi fly higher up and see if you can find me a strong hand hold!" obediently Yumi quickly flew a few feet higher, testing places for the closest hand hold. Once she found one she perched herself on it and looked down at me, flapping her wing in encouragement. _'Just breathe Eb, just breathe, you're doing fine…'_ A harsh wind then suddenly howled through the cliffs, causing her black streaked hair to whip wildly around her. _'Just keep moving' _I thought as I squinted against the rain my eyes.

After a few near death experiences, I was finally pulling myself up over the edge of the cliff. Rolling away from it quickly, I lied on my back with my eyes closed as I panted in exertion, letting the frigid rain continue its assault on me.

It was only when the tip of someone's sword pressed threateningly against my throat did I notice that I wasn't alone.

"Move you die" a cold voice hissed above me. I opening my eyes sleepily to meet up with a pair of dark sapphire eyes glaring down at me. Yumi was fluttering around in concern, trying to find a way to distract him so that I could get up and away.

"Is this the Black Order?" I asked calmly, my face displaying nothing but a blank mask. I was met with silence, his eyes never wavering from mine as we continued to stare at each other. Slowly I moved my hand up, only to pause when I could feel the swords blade press more firmly against my jugular, "I have something for a man named Kamuii Lee…" I said softly as I continued moving my hand to the pocket of my jacket to pull out a small envelope. "It's a letter from General Cross Marian" I said as I held it out. I watched as my captors eyes widen slightly, slowly he reached his hand out and grabbed the letter from my hand.

"Up" he demanded, jerking his sword so that it tapped under my chin, enforcing his statement.

-CHOMP!-

All the sudden Yumi had her teeth sunk into his ear. "Yumi!" I said shocked as he swore and tried to pry her off his ear. "Yumi! You don't bite people!" I scolded as I quickly got up off the ground and reached out to help pry her off. "GET THIS DAMN THING OFF ME!" he screamed out-raged as he kept trying to yank her off his now bleeding ear. "I'm sorry! She was just trying to help me!" I said as I reaching out more to help him when he unexpectedly shoved me backwards, causing me to skid back a few feet then make me lose my footing and fall over the edge of the cliff.

"_AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" _The sheer force of my scream leaves me breathless instantly. As air whistled past me I looked up to see my captor was on the ledge watching me fall with a look of shock on his face and Yumi diving down desperately after me. All the sudden a familiar burning sensation radiated from my back and I felt what seemed like flesh being ripped apart, causing me to release another blood-chilling scream and then I was shot up into the air like a bullet.

After a few tense minutes I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes, unaware that I had even closed them, to see that I was hovering a hundred feet above my captor, who was looking up at me in a mixture of surprise and awe. Gray wings gently flapped behind me, keeping me in the air with relative ease.

Echoes of past encounters consume my mind, hissing words of malice and screams of fear. _"Freak! Monster! You killed him! YOU KILLED HIM!" "No…I-I didn't mean to…" "YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM!" "Please, I-I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"_ sobs started to wreck its way through my body as tears started flowing down my cheeks. I hunched into myself, crossing my arms over my mid-section like I was trying to keep myself together.

Slowly I started descending down to the ground, exhaustion flowing through me in waves. As soon as I was ten feet from the ground my wings reseeded back into my back and I fell to the ground, landing hard on my knees. I was prepared to face plant into the dirt when I felt strong arms embrace me and I was leaning heavily into a warm body.

I fought to keep my eyes open, or to at least to stop the tears that were still cascading down my face. "Don't fight it…" he said as he shifted me so that he could comfortably carry me in his arms, "Close your eyes and sleep…" he said quietly. My eyes closed immediately on their own violation but I continued to fight to stay awake. "Stop that…your body and mind need rest" he scolded as he started walking, the slight rocking in his movements were what did me in, lulling me into a mercifully dreamless sleep.

I woke up slowly, letting my mind process my new surroundings. I was lying in a bed that, despite it being a little lumpy and the pillow a little damp plus had a slight small of dust, was warm and comfortable. The room itself was big enough to be comfortable in and I was lucky to have a decent sized window facing the thick forest. Sitting up I noticed that I was still wearing my clothes and was wrapped in a fluffy bath robe; the only things removed were my jacket which was hanging on a hook on the door and my socks which were stuffed into my shoes beside the door.

It was still dark out but the rain has stopped and the wind has died down. Stretching my stiff body, I looked around the room lazily to try and spot Yumi. "Yumi…" I called quietly; giving the room another sweep with my eyes before I came to the conclusion that she must have flew off somewhere.

Getting up I walked towards the door, hanging the slightly damp robe on an empty hook and not bothering to put my shoes or socks on I stepped out into the hall. The cool air caused goose-bumps to form on my skin but I closed the door and quietly as possible, so as not to disturb anyone who might be sleeping made my way down the hall towards the stairs.

Walking down the fourth set of stairs, I was starting to wonder if I should turn back to my room and wait to see if anyone would come and get me. Just when I was about to turn around I was stopped by a voice, "Do you need assistance?" jumping slightly at the sudden voice, I whipped my attention above me to see a man with aristocratic features looking down at me with an apologetic smile on his face. "My apologies Ms. I didn't mean to frighten you" he said with a slight bow towards me.

Blushing slightly I smiled and turned to face him, "It's not a problem and actually I would be greatly thankful if you could lead me to the head of the science department" I requested shyly, my face heating up a little more when my stomach decided to make itself known. "How about we grab you something to eat first?" he suggested with a slight smile on his face.

I nodded my head in gratitude and waited for him to stand beside me before we headed towards the cafeteria. "I must admit that you caused quit a commotion yesterday…I was out on a mission so I don't know the full story but when I got back everyone was talking about you" he said conversationally, I grimaced not liking the idea of being the center of attention, "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked kindly, looking down at me with an understanding and sympathetic smile.

I shook my head as I avoided eye contact, "You will know everything soon enough…at least all the parts that are relevant to you…" I supplied, "And the other parts?" he asked bending down to get a look at my face. I froze slightly and looked up at him, but as soon as my eyes met his I dropped my gaze again and released a heavy sigh. "Those parts…don't really matter" I said simply. "They matter to you" he stated delicately, I said nothing. "I'm sorry" he said after walking in silence for a while "That was rude of me...I hope you can forgive me" he said quietly. I looked up at him from the corner of my eye then nodded, "You know…you never gave me you name…" I said shyly, letting out a soft giggle at the surprised look on his face I paused to turn towards him and held out my hand.

"My name is Ebony Gray" I said with a smile on my face "Arystar Krory" he replied back and he took my hand in his and brought it up to his lips to press a gentle kiss to the back of my hand. Blushing slightly at his antics I waited until I could claim my hand back and motioned for us to continue.

When we started walking through more populated areas of the building I could feel everyone's eyes on us and hear the whispering that was going on around us. "Do they not have anything better to do?" I asked as I felt my body stiffen, "It seems not…" Krory said as he glared at two men who were trying very hard to avoid sudden eye contact. "What's wrong?" I asked as I looked between him and the two men, "Nothing…" he said as he dropped his glare and gently placed his hand to the base of my back "Some men just don't know how to keep their remarks to themselves" he said simply.

Stiffening even more when he didn't drop his hand right away I took a shy step back from him, "What are they saying?" I asked as I glanced back at them again. Krory blushed and looked away, "They were marvelling at the fact that your clothes are rather…" he trailed off, not knowing how to continue. I looked down at myself and noticed that the men's (Crosses) button down shirt I was wearing was slightly see through due to it being slightly damp revealing my body forming camisole underneath, my battle shorts were clinging to me like a second skin and barely covered my ass, enhancing my toned legs and firm butt.

I blushed slightly for not realising this before and looked up at Krory shyly. "I guess that is what I get for not paying proper attention huh?" I joked shyly, trying to pretend that I wasn't as uncomfortable as I seem. Unbuttoning his exorcist jacket, Krory came up behind me and draped his jacket over my shoulders "This should help…plus it should help you warm up, can you tell me why you decided to not where shoes by the way?" he asked as he looked down at my naked feet.

"I was getting blisters on my feet so I just left them off" I said simply "plus I run faster bare foot" I said with a slight grin. Laughing slightly at my statement, Krory led me to a spacious part of the building where people were sitting in groups and talking loudly. "The cafeteria" he announced, bowing slightly and holding out his arm in invitation.


End file.
